[IceFire]

Ok...I've got a bug that seems to be re-occuring quite a bit on my computer as of late.  Here's the error what what steps I've taken so far to correct it and then my various assumptions.

The error is this - sound popping and clicking in various games, in FreeSpace 2, and in the new version of Winamp 5 (strangely Winamp 2 doesn't do it).  The sound popping and clicking is almost always related with the keyboard being pressed.  Winamp 5 has done it several times since I started typing this message.

So far I have gone the whole nine yards.  I just finished reformatting my computer (I wanted to start clean again) and the problem seemed to occur right away.  I cannot narrow out the possibility it was SP1 upgrade that did it because thats the first thing I did but since it didn't do it before that seems unlikely.

Here's the hardware specs:

AMD 2700+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
512mb RAM PC2700
SB Audigy OEM
Radeon 9700Pro

Note: The onboard Soundstorm audio system is disabled in the BIOS.

This was a problem that started showing up before the reformat and persists through it.  That means that its on more than one driver set for both sound and motherboard.  So I have a couple of guesses that I can venture.

1) The sound card has a problem with it.
2) The sound card is conflicting with the otherwise disabled Soundstorm
3) There is some kind of IRQ or I/O conflict with the keyboard

Anyone able to give me a suggestion on that one?

[mikhael]

Try muting all sound channels except master volume, wav output and CD output. See if that fixes anything.

My wife's machine had this problem where every keypress would cause the speakers to emit a faint hum. It turned out that line-in on her soundcard is poorly shielded and it was picking up RF from the keyboard line.

[IceFire]

Originally posted by mikhael
Try muting all sound channels except master volume, wav output and CD output. See if that fixes anything.

My wife's machine had this problem where every keypress would cause the speakers to emit a faint hum. It turned out that line-in on her soundcard is poorly shielded and it was picking up RF from the keyboard line.

Thats a good thought...I was starting to think there may be some kind of interference.  The left speaker picks up some buzzing noise when certain games/colors/refresh rates on the on the screen.

You'd think this card would have lasted longer.  Its less than a year old.

[mikhael]

Its not a sign of the card degrading, I think. And even if it is, it should be manageable if it turns out to be interference.

[IceFire]

Disabling the line-in seems to have cleared up the interference so far.  I'll let you know but that seems to have done it.  Any more long term solutions or is that generally it?

[Nico]

Originally posted by mikhael
Try muting all sound channels except master volume, wav output and CD output. See if that fixes anything.

My wife's machine had this problem where every keypress would cause the speakers to emit a faint hum. It turned out that line-in on her soundcard is poorly shielded and it was picking up RF from the keyboard line.

Hey! With some tweaking, you could do music with her keyboard

[mikhael]

You're a sick, sick man.

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]Audigy cards are reasonably pricy aren't they?
If so it's pretty surprising (in a disheartining way) that they would pick up that kind of interference. You'd think a good quality audio card would have that covered.
[/color]

[Hippo]

wow... i have the exact same problem with my sound when i run MS TrainSimulator... that fixed it though... :-D

[Nico]

Originally posted by mikhael
You're a sick, sick man.

I am?

[01010]

Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]Audigy cards are reasonably pricy aren't they?
If so it's pretty surprising (in a disheartining way) that they would pick up that kind of interference. You'd think a good quality audio card would have that covered.
[/color]

I can honestly say I've never had any problems at all in the past to years due to my Audigy. It's a great card.

[IceFire]

I got mine for $105 Cdn.  It was OEM mind you and I got it through work so it was cheap...but they are good cards and should hold up.

[Eternal One]

Ice, I had a similar problem with my old computer. Sounds popped whenever I pressed a key. I surprisingly traced it down to be the graphics card drivers ( Radeon 7000 ). I tried a more recent driver and the problem went away. But in any case, I'm 100% sure what you're experiencing is connected to drivers of some sort.

[kasperl]

it could just be the cables causing interference. try placing your speakers away from the rest of you setup, and pull away the line in/mic cables from the card, and see if it still happens. if it turns out to be the cables, you have a problem

[IceFire]

Yeah its still causing some problems.  I've had this issue more or less with most of the driver combinations I've had present.  Catalyst 3.4 was the first I started on and I've gone through to 3.7.  I will not change that driver unless I have to because its the sweet spot for most of my games right now (Forgotten Battles doesn't work on 3.8+ properly - not yet anyways).

I've got some things to try.  May be interference...so I'll be trying a different keyboard and maybe even trying a different speaker set.  If its the speakers then I'll be buying some new ones

[IceFire]

Ok...different speakers and different keyboard tried and it still pops. Except the other cheaper crappier speakers the noise is more high pitched and hurtful to the ears than on my slightly better Altecs